Images from Pete Whittier and Tom Young

David

.
Jun 17, 2004
115
Macgregor 26x Morecambe
Hello all. One of the shortcomings of this site is the inability to upload images. However, I can accommodate that (at a snails pace) by hosting those images outside of the forum.

Some have sent me photos of their boats. I've posted those images at the following location: http://reno2.com/alden/images/949/

David
 

TomY

Alden Forum Moderator
Jun 22, 2004
2,758
Alden 38' Challenger yawl Rockport Harbor
Nice to see the photos of Whits boat and work he has done.

This is such a valuable resource for a Challenger owner that David Reno has taken on. The message board is enough work I'm sure with the boat project he has ongoing. I have photos of many aspects of work on my boat and would be glad to e-mail any that may help someone.

Thanks David.
 

Whit

.
Sep 13, 2004
93
Hunter 30_88-94 New Orleans LA
Pictures explained

The pictures of the underside of the deck show how I have attempted to strengthen the weak deck. I made up a sheet of glass on an old sliding glass door. I built braces to hold the deck in its original position. I then glassed the strips to the original plywood stringers. This has stiffened the deck considerably. Oh yeah, alot of grinding had to be done to clean up the surfaces for a good bond. A very ugly job to complete, but it seems to have worked.
A couple of pics show how I replaced the toe rail. I made measurements on the deck, removed old wood & hardware, filled all the holes, glassed and primed the edge of the deck. Cutting the new rail was a bit of a challange as the angles change along the length of the hull. Nothing like new teak to dress up the old lady! The original rails had been damaged and repaired poorly & leaked badly.
 

David

.
Jun 17, 2004
115
Macgregor 26x Morecambe
I'm not sure that I understand. Did you remove the plywood supports and replace them with fiberglass ones or strengthen the existing plywood supports?
 

Whit

.
Sep 13, 2004
93
Hunter 30_88-94 New Orleans LA
Deck Repair

I fastened the glass strips to the original plywood using stainless screws and then glassed everything together and to the underside of the deck.
 

David

.
Jun 17, 2004
115
Macgregor 26x Morecambe
So I take it that you found the plywood to be in good condition? I would have guessed that the plywood may not have held up so well, being open from below to moisture.

I've been thinking on this topic a bit. I thought that some reinforcing from below would be warrented, though I was leaning towards filling the voids with a foam core and glassing them over, or even removing the honeycomb supports (due the their depth) and replacing with a thinner core/glass layer to produce more typical sandwich construction. Finally, I know that I will eventually want to put a teak deck on the boat. I would imagine the teak would tremendously stiffen the deck (acting as a core). Since the glass (original deck) would then be below the teak (core) I would think it as good as a full sandwich deck.

Has anyone else thought of putting teak decks on their boat?

David
 

Whit

.
Sep 13, 2004
93
Hunter 30_88-94 New Orleans LA
Deck

In my case, the honeycomb had broken at the intersections of the plywood stringers (mid deck) causing a lot of flex and in some areas sagging. I don’t believe that adding a teak deck, with out strengthening the supporting deck, would solve your problems. Tom suggested wood deck joists, which would probably be the easiest method. I was in the "glassing mode" after repairing the chain plates and this worked well for me.